INEC refutes claims of BVAS data tampering in Kogi election

The electoral body of Nigeria, INEC, has urged the public to ignore claims of voter data tampering on the BVAS devices used in the recent Kogi governorship poll.

The SDP candidate in the poll, Yakubu Murtala, had accused the commission of colluding with the ruling APC to alter the data to show alleged over-voting in some areas of the state.

INEC’s National Commissioner and member of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, issued a statement yesterday to clarify the issue.

He said the reports of data tampering were baseless and that the most reliable and current data on voter accreditation was stored in the BVAS devices, which were used to verify and accredit registered voters at the polling units on the day of the election.

“The BVAS devices keep the accreditation data of all voters automatically,” he said. “The BVAS devices are designed to work mainly offline without an internet connection, which makes the verification and accreditation process faster and smoother for voters.

“However, when the device is active or in use, it exports the accreditation data to the ABS system, depending on the internet connection strength. This exportation does not happen when the device is inactive or when the internet connection is poor. The same thing happens when more than one BVAS device is used at a polling unit with more than 1,250 registered voters.

“This is like when a poor network service delays the delivery of a text message sent from one phone to another.

“At the end of the poll, the presiding officers are expected to press the data exportation button on the BVAS device to ensure all the accreditation data is exported to the ABS system.

“This process, called synchronisation, is still ongoing and could lead to changes in the accreditation figures as more data comes in to update the existing figures.

“This is why there is a warning on the IReV portal regarding the accreditation figures. The accreditation data cannot be changed on the BVAS device after the end of the poll. The public should disregard the false report and misinformation.